Some ways to (partially) ward off the deluge of spam

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, July 13, 2003

If you think you can entirely stop the torrent of junk mail pouring into your e-mail account, forget it. This isn't like a leaky pipe under the sink. Electronic junk mail -- a.k.a. spam -- is a virulent foe, constantly testing your defenses and mutating to find its way around them.

Spammers, an ethically bankrupt breed of marketers who consider privacy a dirty word and the invasion of it a supreme challenge, always seem to be a step ahead of the folks trying to thwart them. Think of Leo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in "Catch Me if You Can" and you get the idea.

Just because you can't completely banish spam, however, doesn't mean you can't keep it to the level of a minor nuisance rather than a horrendous nightmare. As with some medicines, combining proven treatments can slow the spread of spam and keep your inbox healthy.

To brew up an effective anti-spam cocktail you'll need to do the following: 1) keep your e-mail address as cryptic and private as possible; 2) use an Internet service provider that employs spam-fighting technology; 3) take advantage of filtering options in your e-mail software; 4) install anti-spam software on your computer; and 5) never reply to a spammer or buy anything pitched in a spam message.

Let's examine these in a little more depth:

E-MAIL ADDRESSES

To a spammer, the easiest targets are users whose e-mail addresses include their names. An address such as DavidE@isp.com is a sitting duck for a spammer who sends out millions of messages. You can make your address more difficult to guess by mixing in random numbers and letters, like this: David24E6@isp.com.

Many spammers collect addresses just like direct-mail houses do: by buying mailing lists. When you provide your e-mail address while registering on a Web site or during an online shopping transaction, the owner of the site may turn around and sell your address or share it with partners, and that slippery slope leads directly to spam.

To protect yourself from that possibility, make sure a site has a policy of keeping addresses confidential before you part with yours.

In any case, it's a good idea to maintain two e-mail addresses -- a main one for personal mail, the other for online shopping and visiting Web sites that require your address. That way, your primary address isn't as vulnerable.

All big Internet service providers let users have have multiple e-mail addresses (go to the ISP's Web site for instructions). Typically you dole them out to family members, but they also are good for deflecting spam. Another option is to get yourself a free Web-based e-mail account with Hotmail, Yahoo or some other provider and use it as your spam decoy.

Spammers also skim addresses from chat room conversations in which the front parts of e-mail addresses double as screen names. You can foil them -- at least temporarily -- by creating a special address for chatting. Then simply replace it when the spam starts to flow in.

ISP FILTERS

Major Internet service providers, including America Online, MSN and EarthLink, block a ton of spam before it can get to users. In fact, AOL filters more than 2 billion spam messages a day. That's probably not much consolation if you're still receiving dozens of pitches for cheap Viagra, low mortgage rates and miraculous male enhancement, but it's a step in the right direction. It might be worth trying out several of the big ISPs to see which one does the best job of stopping spam for you.

E-MAIL PROGRAM FILTERS

Programs such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape and Eudora let you filter your mail and catch lots of spam.

You do it by setting up filters -- sometimes called rules -- to look for common spam keywords and phrases in the from, to and subject lines as well as the text of incoming messages.

You can configure filters to send suspicious mail to a separate folder, leaving your inbox relatively spam-free. You also can block addresses of spammers (although a crafty spammer changes addresses faster than Whoopi Goldberg changes costumes at the Academy Awards). America Online also has junk- mail controls, although they're not as flexible as some of the others.

ANTI-SPAM SOFTWARE

Add-on spam-fighting software can give you a strong line of defense. Independent tests have shown that anti-spam programs can block anywhere from 40 to 90 percent of junk mail. Top-rated programs include SpamCatcher ($19.95 from www.mailshell.com), Spam Sleuth ($29.25 from www.bluesquirrel.com) and SAProxy (free from www.bloomba.com).

Software giants Symantec and Network Associates also sell anti-spam software. Symantec's is available as part of Norton Internet Security ($69.95 from www.symantec.com, but you can get it cheaper in stores). Network Associates' McAfee unit sells SpamKiller for $39.95 at www.mcafee.com. SpamKiller would be better if it used SpamAssassin technology, which McAfee is putting into its anti-spam software for businesses. By the way, SpamAssassin is the engine for SAProxy.

DON'T HELP SPAMMERS

All of the precautions, software and strategy in the world won't bring spam to a complete halt. The only thing that's going to do that is congressional legislation for sending spammers up the river.

In the meantime, the best advice for dealing with spam that gets through all your defenses is this: Don't open it. Don't buy anything advertised in spam, and don't even respond if a messages says something like "Click here to unsubscribe from this mailing list." Any response will verify that your e-mail address works, and that will further whet the spammer's appetite. In short, if you can't beat it, just delete it.

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